Reducing Your Office Waste – How Can it Be Done?

Now people are more aware of the importance of reducing our impact on the environment it has become a higher and higher priority for businesses to make sure they do their own bit to go green. Not only can your business help the environment by reducing the amount of waste it produces, it will help with your corporate social responsibility and you can also save money by doing so! Here are some simple ideas of how you can make a real difference with minimal investment and effort.

Paper waste

Paper waste accounts for 80-90% of all business waste in the UK and it is one of the easiest forms of waste to reduce. Here are 5 ideas on how you can reduce the amount of paper you throw away:

1) Have a recycle bin with easy reach of all employees. Make it easier for them to recycle than throw the paper away!

2) Use scrap paper for note making and printing unimportant internal documents.

3) Use a whiteboard instead of paper flip charts. Also refillable whiteboard markers will help to reduce the amount you are throwing away

4) Swap to email and online newsletters from paper ones where possible and unsubscribe from any that you don’t use.

5) Check if your staff have surplus stationary on and around their desks. You may find plenty of spares to restock your supply cupboard.

Kitchen waste

Kitchen waste is easily missed when creating an office scheme. Make sure you minimise the amount you produce in this area by following these 5 easy rules:

1) Use mugs and glasses instead of plastic or polystyrene cups.

2) Remind people to take any leftover food from the fridge on a Friday instead of just throwing it away.

3) Offer used tea-bags and coffee granules to green-fingered employees to use as compost.

4) Buy big packets of coffee/tea/sugar to cut down on the amount of waste packaging.

5) Use cloth towels instead of paper towels for general cleaning.

General waste

Many other things in an office are a source of waste. From old electronics to general odds and ends you may have lying about the office. These 5 example could help you on your way to a more efficient office:

1) Set printers to black ink as standard to save using up colour cartridges.

2) Don’t use sticky notes, use scrap paper and blue tack. The glue means they can’t be recycled.

3) Offer old computers to staff, local schools, or charities instead of throwing them away.

4) Ask to be removed from spam mailing lists to cut down the spam mail you get sent.

5) Instead of stapling documents use paper clips, these can be reused instead of thrown away when you are done with the document.

Follow these tips and you can encourage a significant reduction in the amount of waste you produce. These suggestions are a great place to start but don’t stop there! Try and find out what areas of your company are creating the most waste and then try to find your own ways to minimise the amount you are producing. There are some more tips on how you can go even further in this waste reduction post posted by Direct365.

2 Responses to “Reducing Your Office Waste – How Can it Be Done?”

I love these Green Office Tips! We work with many offices who hire us because we clean green, but there are little things they can do on their own, to help their own eco-friendly cause. Two other things I would mention are:

1) Change the printer setting to “economical” or “eco-friendly” so it will print with less ink. Most of the documents we print do not need to be in dark ink, and when there is a contract or important document to be printed, you can switch the setting to normal.
2) Request paperless options whenever possible. Credit card statements, telephone bills, etc.